1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods, systems, and programs for wireless interaction with a portable device, and more particularly to methods, systems, and programs for interaction between a portable device and a controller defined to interact with a game console.
2. Description of the Related Art
The video game industry has seen many changes over the years. As computing power has expanded, developers of video games have likewise created game software that takes advantage of these increases in computing power. To this end, video game developers have been coding games that incorporate sophisticated operations and mathematics to produce a very realistic game experience.
Example gaming platforms include the Sony Playstation, Sony Playstation2 (PS2), or Sony Playstation 3 (PS3), each of which is sold in the form of a game console. The game console is designed with specialized processing hardware, including a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a graphics synthesizer for processing intensive graphics operations, a vector unit for performing geometry transformations, and other glue hardware, firmware, and software.
Mobile gaming platforms are designed for playing games without the need to be attached to a display or a power source. Examples mobile gaming platforms include Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) and PSP Go. Additionally, other devices whose main function is other than playing games can also provide mobile gaming functionality, such as cell phones, Personal Digital Assistants (PDA), MP3 players, etc. Online gaming is also possible, wherein a user can interactively play against or with other users over the Internet.
As game complexity continues to intrigue players, gaming software and hardware manufacturers have continued to innovate to enable additional interactivity. In reality, however, the way in which users interact with a game has not changed dramatically over the years. Commonly, users still play computer games using hand held controllers or interact with programs using mouse pointing devices. Portable gaming devices that have gyro and position sensing capabilities are often twisted and turned during game play to accommodate a user interface for the game. However, it is uncomfortable for the user to visually track the screen unless the user moves his head in the same direction as the twisting and turning of the gaming device. This is not often possible, resulting in poor gaming experiences.
As game complexity continues to intrigue players, game and hardware manufacturers have continued to innovate to enable additional interactivity and computer programs. A growing trend in the computer gaming industry is to develop games that increase the interaction between user and the gaming system. One way of accomplishing a richer interactive experience is to use wireless game controllers whose movement is tracked by the gaming system in order to track the player's movements and use these movements as inputs for the game. Generally speaking, gesture input refers to having an electronic device such as a computing system, video game console, smart appliance, etc., react to some gesture captured by a video camera that tracks an object.
It is in this context that embodiments of the invention arise.